HEALTH AND WELLNESS COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES 10th ANNIVERSARY SEASON

HEALTH AND WELLNESS COMMUNITY ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES 10th ANNIVERSARY SEASONSunday February 18, 4:00 pm, Colorado State University, University Center for the Arts, Griffin Hall

Fort Collins, CO - February 5, 2018 - The Health and Wellness Community Orchestra will present its 10th anniversary concert on Sunday February 18 at 4:00 pm. The concert will feature Founding Conductor Leslie Stewart playing the Svendsen Romance for violin. In addition, the orchestra will perform Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and JulietFantasie-Overture and highlights from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Ms. Stewart’s husband, Maestro Wes Kenney (Music Director of the Fort Collins Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestras at Colorado State University) will guest conduct the Gershwin and Svendsen. The Valentine-theme concert will be held at the University Center for the Arts in the Griffin Hall at 1400 Remington Street in Fort Collins. Admission is free and the concert is open to the public.

Initially a hospital-based orchestra founded in 2008, this ensemble was created to promote health and wellness for both its musicians and audience through music. It has since grown into a community orchestra which collaborates with UC Health and Front Range Community College to perform 3-4 concerts a year.

Music Director Leslie Stewart teaches violin, string pedagogy, and undergraduate conducting at CSU and conducts the CSU Concert Orchestra. She is also the Director CSU’s unique Summer Master of Music Degree Program with a Specialization in Conducting which enables working music educators from around the world to earn their Master’s degree without leaving their teaching position. Ms Stewart brings 30 years of experience conducting youth and community orchestras, including the Red Mountain Chamber Orchestra in Alabama, the Marin Symphony Youth Orchestra in California and the Bay Youth Orchestras of Virginia.

This 10th anniversary concert will honor Leslie Stewart and her many contributions as a conductor, violinist, and teacher to the musical culture of Fort Collins. On Tuesday February 20, the city will make a proclamation in honor of Leslie Stewart at the City Council Chambers, 200 Laporte Ave. at 5:30 pm. Fort Collins Mayor Wade Troxell has proclaimed February 20 as ‘Leslie Stewart’ day in recognition of her service as the Founding Conductor of the Health and Wellness Community Orchestra.

The orchestra is also proud to announce the establishment of a music scholarship at Front Range Community College in the name of Dr. Ann K. Yanagi, who founded the orchestra in 2008. The scholarship will give aspiring musicians an opportunity to pursue music at Front Range Community College and participate in the Health and Wellness Orchestra. Debra Throgmorton, Lead Faculty of Music and Dance at FRCC will present the scholarship.